ROME (AP) Two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova has withdrawn before her Italian Open quarterfinal match against seventh-seeded Sara Errani because of illness.
The announcement comes less than 10 days before the start of the French Open, the year's second Grand Slam, which starts May 26.
Sharapova says on Twitter that she "didn't recover after being sick last week and it got me again last night."
© 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press.